J. Lee Grady

I wasn’t watching the Grammy Awards last Sunday night, but I couldn’t help but hear all the fuss about the controversial performance by artists Sam Smith and Kim Petros. Some people seemed surprised that their song “Unholy”—which is about a husband who cheats on his wife—won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. It’s no

Many Christians pray for spiritual awakening, and that’s good. But I wonder if we realize how disruptive revival will be when it hits us like a tsunami. If you read accounts of previous revivals, three things become obvious: (1) revival requires a lot of work; (2) it’s always chaotic; and (3) it offends religious people.

Read Time: 4 minutes 36 seconds If you type in the words “Walmart brawl” or “Waffle House fight” on YouTube, you’ll find hundreds of videos of bizarre altercations between angry customers. They are throwing punches, hurling expletives, kicking each other, pulling hair and even brandishing weapons, near checkout stands or next to hot ovens. You’ll

Read Time: 4 Minutes 25 Seconds When I was filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, I knew my Southern Baptist mother probably wouldn’t be happy about my Pentecostal experience. She and I shared the same core beliefs in Jesus and salvation, or course. But I knew that some Christian denominations don’t encourage believers

Read Time: 3 Minutes 40 Seconds At the beginning of every year, I always spend time in fasting and prayer to seek God for direction. In most cases, He gives me a word that helps me navigate the coming season. Sometimes the word has been as simple as, “Keep running your race,” a reference to

Read Time: 3 Minutes 41 Seconds Have you ever prayed for something for a really long time, with no evidence of an answer? George Mueller, a British man who fed hundreds of orphans in the 1800s, prayed every day for the salvation of five men. The first man was converted after 18 months, and the

Read Time: 3 Minutes 34 Seconds You probably already heard that Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of 10,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, defended abortion from his pulpit last summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. Bryant said on June 26—ironically during a baby dedication at the mega-church—that the

Read Time: 3 Minutes 37 Seconds Most made-for-TV Christmas movies are like eggnog and sugar cookies—way too sweet, yet extremely addictive for a lot of viewers. But these Hallmark-style movies—the ones with predictable love stories that always end with jingling bells and a happy wedding—have suddenly become divisive in our polarized culture. At the heart

Read Time: 3 Minutes 27 Seconds You may have heard about the controversy that erupted in Cambridge, England, this past Sunday at Trinity College. The preacher, Joshua Heath, a junior research fellow who has a Ph.D. in theology, offered a sermon in which he suggested that Jesus Christ might have had what he called a

Read Time: 3 Minutes 29 Seconds Everywhere I go I hear Christians bashing the church and complaining that they can’t attend a certain local fellowship. We’ve become experts at nitpicking. We are quick to judge and condemn. Church dropouts today have a long list of reasons why they can’t worship with other Christians: “I don’t

Read Time: 3 Minutes 52 Seconds Politicians on both sides of the spectrum are guilty of twisting words to manipulate the national conversation. We saw this during the recent mid-term election campaigns. Words have been weaponized to smear those who disagree with certain positions. For example, “democracy,” “fascist,” “tolerant,” “inclusive,” “science denier,” “racist,” “homophobe” and

Read Time: 3 Minutes 41 Seconds I know so many people right now who are dealing with loss. One woman from Alabama, Sharlene, lost her husband in late 2021. The same year, my friend Abdiel lost his mother to COVID. Another friend’s daughter has walked away from God. A young married couple I know had